1. Remind yourself of all the benefits of giving up smoking. And remember, you have to want to do it for yourself in order to be successful.
2. Set a date a week or so in advance to mentally prepare yourself for giving up. Let family and friends know and throw out any smoking paraphernalia.
3. Febreze the house, get your teeth whitened, wash the sofa upholstery, change the net curtains...Whatever it takes to really get smoking out of your life and start a fresh.
4. Stop thinking that giving up smoking is hard. It's easy. The tobacco companies want you to think it's hard so that you'll be less tempted to give up. Try telling yourself that you are going to find it easy to give up smoking, instead of telling yourself it will be hard. Repeatedly telling yourself this will send a message to your subconscious which will then go about making that a reality.
5. Don't bother with nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches or gums. They only perpetuate the addiction and evidence suggests it o nly has a 10% success rate.
6. Hypnotherapy has been shown to be the most effective way of giving up smoking; better than willpower, seeing your GP, nicotine patches, gums, electronic cigarettes, the lot!
7. Work out all the money you will have saved over a 6 month period, and dream up ways to spend it. Visualise yourself on that holiday, with that handbag or wearing that suit. The average smoker spends around £2000 a year. Imagine what you could do with that money!
8. Try to break old habits and patterns. If you liked to smoke after a meal, go for a walk instead or chat to someone on the phone. If you like to smoke when you drink alcohol, go out with some non-smoking friends or somewhere where it's hard to pop out for a cigarette. Get rid of ash trays and other triggers in your house so that you are not reminded about smoking all the time.
9. Think of everything you'll be gaining once you have given up smoking. More money, better health, freedom, a longer life, time, etc! When you think about it, you are gaining so much more than you are giving up. Focus on the positive results you can expect to see rather than dwelling on the idea that you have to give something up.